


Maybe Tomorrow

by babygirl127



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Hidden Feelings, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 16:56:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7540585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babygirl127/pseuds/babygirl127
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo tries to find the courage to tell his friend how he feels</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maybe Tomorrow

Nervous toes tapped anxiously against the ground as Leo looked around the modestly furnished and decorated house of one of his family’s closest friends. Leatherhead had been an ally of the Hamato family ever since Mikey had been able to calm things down between everyone and Leo had travelled to his friend’s house to visit him for the afternoon.

Despite the trust and friendship between them Leo still couldn’t stop the butterflies from fluttering about in his stomach. It wasn’t very often that it was just he and LH alone together. Most often times it was the mutant crocodile and Don spending quality time together given the similar interests that they shared. Being alone with the larger mutant, though nice, still felt very strange to Leo.

Leo was grateful that at the moment Leatherhead had his back to him while he worked at preparing two cups of tea for them to share and thus kept LH from seeing just how twitchy the ninja was acting. The last thing he wanted was for LH to think that he wasn’t comfortable in his friend’s house.

Leo’s fingers drummed against his thighs as they longed for the peaceful task of cleaning his swords just to give them something productive to do. As soon as LH started to turn around to bring the offered drink over to where Leo was sitting though the turtle forced his body to still and attempted to relax and give the appearance that nothing was wrong.

“Here you go my friend,” Leatherhead offered holding out the steaming mug. “If you need anything else please let me know and I would be happy to get it for you.”

“Thanks LH. I’m fine but thank you for the offer,” Leo replied with a bow of his head over the mug before bringing it to his lips and blowing before taking a sip.

A comfortable quiet fell over the room as the two of them enjoyed each other’s company and drank their tea. With each sip Leo thought about the larger mutant sitting next to him. Their introduction hadn’t been the least bit friendly or civil but now Leo would trust Leatherhead with his life or the lives of his brothers without question. That had not been an easy jump for the young leader however.

Leo still remembered back to when they had found Leatherhead living in their old lair and working for Baxter Stockman. He had been more than a little suspicious of the crocodile and that suspicion hadn’t let up just because the croc had turned on Stockman and fought with them against the evil scientist. Afterall, if LH had been fooled that once than who knew what or who else he might have been fooled by. For all Leo knew LH could still be a danger to his family and he wasn’t going to just sit by and do nothing about it.

With that in mind Leo had held himself back from the potential ally and just watched. Nothing got past him. Every interaction Leatherhead had with his brothers or father Leo was there to observe and strategize about.

It was during this observation that Leo got to know more about the crocodile. He saw that despite how big he was LH was also gentle, kind, and soft spoken. On top of that he was a mutant of his word. Whenever he offered his assistance to the Hamato family he always did as he promised to do always to the best of his abilities. That dedication and honor had been what had won Leo over in the end.

More than just winning Leo over to trust him, LH’s actions had also had an unintended side effect. It had taken Leo a while to realize it but LH had slowly but surely taken over his heart in the process. There were times now that Leo found himself jealous of Donnie and the time that he got to spend working on science and technology with Leatherhead. Leo was jealous of the easy way that Mikey could just hang around the larger mutant without any thought and the way Raph could relate to him with his anger issues. There was nothing like that in common for Leo to share with LH. Even the tea they were currently sharing was more due to LH being a good host than because he sought out the beverage on his own.

That lack of commonality between them was the shackle that held Leo back from telling his friend just how he felt about him. He didn’t want to make anything awkward between his family and their friend but it was getting harder and harder to hold this information back and not just blurt out his feelings to his friend regardless of anything that might happen after.

The whole reason Leo had even come over today was so that he could finally tell Leatherhead just how he felt about him and could leave if LH wanted him to without making the crocodile feel uncomfortable in someone else’s home. The only problem to Leo’s plan however was that only the dregs of his tea remained in his mug and he was still no closer to spilling his heart out than he had been when he first arrived.

Before the ninja knew it he was thanking LH for letting him visit and was saying goodbye. As the door closed behind him and Leo started walking home it felt like the sewer tunnels were colder than they had been when he had been going to visit his friend. Reaching up to rub against his plastron over the ache in his heart Leo thought about how another day had gone by without him telling Leatherhead how he really felt about him.

Sighing and squaring his shoulder Leo continued marching on. Tomorrow was another day and maybe tomorrow he’d have the courage to say something. He’d been thinking that for almost a month but but one of these days it would just have to be true.


End file.
